Theater: In Shakespeare's game of thrones, Faran Tahir is a riveting 'Richard'

By Iris Fanger/For The Patriot Ledger

Thursday

Jul 26, 2018 at 11:02 AMJul 26, 2018 at 11:04 AM

A tyrant is abroad in the land — a man who would be king — setting his ambition above his country’s welfare. He’s cunning and manipulative, answering to no laws but those that serve his desires. No, we are not gazing into a mirror of the 21st century, but 16th-century England near the end of the War of the Roses. Unhappily, the toxic atmosphere seems close to our own reality.

From the first declarative sentence of the villain’s opening monologue, “Now is the winter of our discontent,” to the final pleas of the monarch at Bosworth Field, “A horse! A horse! my kingdom for a horse,” William Shakespeare’s “Richard III” unfolds nightly on the Boston Common — weather permitting — in an impressive production, under the carefully calibrated direction of Steven Maler. Difficult as they are to follow, the competing motives of the characters and complicated genealogy are sorted out and blocked on stage to the sounds of trumpets, drums and a helicopter flying overhead across the night sky. Maler is a master at casting, enhancing Shakespeare’s retelling of English history.

When we first meet the wanna-be monarch, he is the Duke of Gloucester, later to seize the throne. Darkly resplendent in thoughts and costume, the actor, Faran Tahir, looks like “the other, ” totally in control of every encounter, in contrast to the blond women he seeks to marry. Tahir omits the tradition of playing the role as a hunch back, taking on a limp and a weak arm for his physical deformities. Tahir nails the character from his first long soliloquy, bringing the audience into his confidence as co-conspirators. Wearing a face mike (like the rest of the leading characters), he speaks Shakespeare’s words with the clarity of a fine piece of crystal. Tahir starts high, pushing the temperature and pacing even further and faster over the passage of time, telescoped into nearly three hours.

His alter ego is the Duke of Buckingham, portrayed by Fred Sullivan, Jr., with a cheery demeanor and sense of humor, despite the terrible deeds he undertakes in the name of the king. His motives are equally self-serving given that Gloucester has promised him a special title and lands for his aid. Sullivan, one of the most accomplished actors in the region, presents himself as a contrast to the coiled and scowling Tahir, even as he shares the conspiracies.

Gloucester steps his way to the throne by murdering his rivals, among them his so-called beloved brother, Duke of Clarence (a sympathetic Remo Airaldi), next Lord Hastings, the Lord Chamberlain (a knowing but regretful Mark Torres) and finally, most dreadfully, the two little Princes, Edward, rightful heir to the throne, and his younger brother, Richard (Seamus Doyle and Brendan O’Brien, the well-spoken children of the cast).

The four women that confront Gloucester/Richard are royalty by marriage and birth; Lady Anne (Libby McKnight) whom he marries then murders; the Duchess of York (Sarah Sinclair), his mother; Queen Elizabeth, wife and widow to King Edward and mother of the two slain Princes (a riveting Deb Martin); and the old Queen, Margaret (Bobbie Steinbach). Margaret promises revenge on Richard and prophecies his downfall in a thundering first act tour-de-force by Steinbach.

You’ll not soon forget the Act II scene of the three queens mourning the deaths of the Princes in the Tower that includes Sinclair’s helpless fury at bringing Richard into the world, nor the mesmerizing thrust and parry between Martin and Tahir when he attempts to wheedle her permission to marry her young daughter to further cement his claims to the throne.

The starkly simple décor is designed by Eric Southern. The costumes are mostly shaded in black with Jessica Pabst’s costume designs taken from Alexander McQueen’s trendy 20th century menswear. An air of doom pervades Richard’s victories, even to the parade of all-black banners that frame his hasty coronation.

Richard is defeated at the end, a win for the forces of right and order, finally ending the era of misrule. One might wonder if — and when — history repeats itself.